


A Curiosity

by BlueRoboKitty



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Another Fic of Keith Pretending Lance Doesn't Exist, Introspection, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Rivalry, Unrequited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 15:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7320985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRoboKitty/pseuds/BlueRoboKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There’s only one way Lance can salvage his reputation, and that is to turn his intentions into something else entirely."</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, look, Shardy writes a fic exploring Lance's bisexuality again. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Lance has never hit on a guy until now.

He’s been attracted to other guys, sure, but he doesn’t nearly have the confidence he does than when he’s talking to girls. Years of repressing a part of your identity, never allowing yourself to expand your horizons, so to speak, will do that. Years of hearing society tell you that what you feel is just a phase, a curiosity, something you can choose to ignore.

He can’t ignore those eyes, though. A deeper blue than his own, the darkest indigo, almost violet in some lighting. Sometimes they look kind of sad, faraway, as if those eyes wish they were anywhere else but here. Perhaps his attraction is due to Keith being a curiosity, not just pretty. There he goes with curiosity again. Lance hates that word so much now. Just when he thinks his feelings are genuine, it rises up in his gut like a snake and confuses him all over again.

It’s different this time. When Keith walks by his desk every day, Lance picks up the faint scent of leather and apple. He doesn’t wear overpowering spicy aftershave like Lance does. His scent is far more subtle, only noticed by those permitted to come close enough to him. It fills Lance with thoughts of breathing in that scent while pressed close to him with his hands tangled in that soft black hair. The image always surprises him.

“Hey there.”

This is an accident, actually. Lance happens to pass by Keith’s desk on his way back to his own. Break’s over. The instructor will return soon. But he has a few minutes.

“Keith Song, right?” He rests his hip against the edge of the desk. He is given the briefest of glances before Keith returns his focus back to his flight manual. He’s always reading those things. A little bit of a nerd, is he? It’s cute. And also explains why he’s at the top of the class.

“I’m Lance Moreno. But you knew that.” He grins. “Y’know, bein’ rivals and all.”

Keith doesn’t respond and doesn’t even look at him this time.

“I’ll give you credit, though. Yesterday, that corkscrew maneuver you did in the flight simulator? Pretty sweet, not gonna lie. How long you think before they put you in an actual jet?”

Nothing. Lance is never so easily deterred, however.

“Hey, I never actually see you hang out anywhere. You wanna come out with me and my boys this Friday? There’s a pretty awesome pizza place, y’know, the Shack out by the lake, that the three of us – “

“Sergeant Johnson will be back any moment. You should probably get back to your seat before you get in trouble. _Again.”_

Keith’s voice is softer than Lance thought, but there’s nothing gentle about his tone, deadpan and dismissive. He still doesn’t look at him.

Lance returns to his seat, and he’s beyond embarrassed. The amount of “So I saw you talkin’ to Keith Song…” and variations of the same he receives after that only adds to his humiliation. Lance has hit on so many girls, he succeeds in landing dates by virtue of statistics. Then he finally becomes brave enough, confident enough, to hit on a guy. Only to fail. Horrifically.

Curiosity, his brain snarks with a smirk to match his own. Just curiosity.

“Bro, it’s Cadet Song, that was your first mistake,” Hunk tells him later that day. “That’s what he’s like. If you wanna date a guy that badly, you should’ve gone for someone, I dunno, a little friendlier? Barnes is gay, I think. And single. And I heard Churches will make out with _anyone_ , especially if he’s drunk. So there ya go. Two guys available to you right off the top of my head. Hell, bro, if you _really_ wanna go out with a guy, _I’ll_ take you out on a date. Might actually be kinda fun.”

“Hunk, that’s just us hangin’ out like we do _every_ Friday.”

“No no no no no, us hanging out is going to the Shack and watching you embarrass yourself over greasy garlic knots. A _date,_ on the other hand, is when I dress up real nice and pick you up at seven with flowers, and we go to Sage’s. What kind of _animal_ takes his dates to the Shack, anyway? This is why your girlfriends never last more than a week, my man.”

Lance touches his chest with mock astonishment. “You’d take me to Sage’s?”

Hunk smirks at him. “Trust me, I know how to treat a date, and one of the first steps of treating a date is knowing what food works for what atmosphere and romantic intention. Start taking notes, brother.”

Hunk’s dining lessons prove to be a distraction, anyway. It mostly just makes Lance hungry, but he doesn’t think about Keith Song for a little while and that helps.

Because when Lance does think of Keith, he wants to rectify the situation. But whenever he talks to the other cadet at all, he’s ignored. Not even so much as a glance like the first time. Other students are taking notice by this point. Lance Moreno getting what he deserved by his latest target acting like his obnoxious mouth doesn’t exist. They didn’t even know Lance batted for both teams, and now it all makes sense! No good with the ladies, and no good with the dudes, either. “Hey, Moreno, you do know Song is a _guy,_ right?”

A phase. A curiosity.

There’s only one way Lance can salvage his reputation, and that is to turn his intentions into something else entirely.

He’s full of himself when he told Keith they’re rivals, and he's always known it, but now he pursues that claim in earnest. Lance had decent grades before, but his newfound rivalry pushes him to exceed. His instructors are impressed, even. Master Sergeant Johnson praises him for finally finding the incentive he needed to bring out his potential. Lance is loud about his rivalry, too, but the instructors don’t take much notice. The officer path is highly competitive, after all, especially among pilot trainees. Galaxy Garrison has seen many rivalries come and go. This one was no different.

Only Keith still ignores him, and their rivalry doesn’t seem to make any difference to him. This only pushes Lance harder. And when Keith is washed out from the Garrison entirely for some unknown reason, Lance is moved to the fighter class in his place. He has pushed himself to the point of being an adequate replacement and so he brags to everyone with working ears how he has “won”.

Hunk thinks Lance is being unnecessarily nasty over a simple rejection, especially a rejection from someone who doesn’t interact with others much to begin with.

Lance tells him that it’s not a rejection, it’s a rivalry. He just tried to be friendly first because it’s the gentlemanly thing to do, and he was just curious. 

Nothing more than a curiosity. 


End file.
